Foundation garment



April 20, 1965 v M. H. FAUST 3,178,911

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed on. 10, 1 961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 llllllllllllllINII/ENTOR. MARTIN H. FAUST his ATTORNE April 20, 1965 M. H. FAUST3,178,911

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed Oct. 10, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

MARTIN H. FAus ls ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,178,911 FUUNDATIQNGARMENT Martin H. Faust, Reading, Pa, assignor to Penn-Bale KnittingMiiis, Ind, Sinking Spring, Pa. Filed Oct. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 144,134

1 Claim. (6i. 66177) This invention relates to a foundation garment andfabric and to the method of making the same. More specifically, thisinvention relates to a stretchable and highly retractable or compressivefabric or garment which is particularly and primarily useful as afoundation garment, such as a girdle, but which is of a constructionmaking it suitable for other similar garments, such as swimming suits,jock straps, surgical stockings and the like, and relates to the methodof knitting and constructing the same.

In the past, foundation garments, such as girdles, have been almostinvariably made, either partly or entirely, of rubber orrubber-containing threads in order to provide the requiredstretchability as well as retractability or compressive strength foreffectively holding the wearer in to a particular form or contour. Thusthe compressive or binding force has depended upon the elasticityinherent in the yarn or thread of which the garment was knit, whichthread was often times elastic coated. Such construction has also beenused in surgical stockings. However, an outstanding disadvantage ofrubber threads is that they often cause skin reactions to the wearer,leaving welts or impressions on the body of the wearer and providingdiscomfort in wear. Furthermore, they have relatively short life,tending to deteriorate rather rapidly as a result of washing andfriction from pulling on and off by the wearer. Also,'after one or morewashings they attain an unattractive appearance. Additionally, suchgirdles have seams which rub against the body and cause furtherimpressions, irritation and discomfort. Moreover, when closely knitrubber containing yarns are used, the garment is not moisture absorbentbut is somewhat clammy, that is, it causes excessive perspiration to thewearer, further aggraviting discomfort in wear.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel stretchablefoundation garment, such as a girdle or the like, which is devoid of theabove named disadvantages of conventional foundation stretchablegarments, which is entirely free of rubber, and which provides extremecomfort in wear and has an amazingly high compressive force forholding-in the wearer to maintain a given contour or figure.

A further object of the invention isto provide a novel method for makinga stretchable fabric with breathing holes or outlets which not onlyeliminate or minimize perspiration, but which add considerably to thestretchability of the fabric in a horizontal direction, thus making itparticularly suitable as a foundation garment material.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel foundationgarment, such as a girdle, or a similar garment, such as a swimmingsuit, surgical stocking or the like, of such construction as toeliminate the exposure of seams, either to the body of the wearer or tothe outside of the garment, even in the crotch portion, and which has alining providing a very comfortable fit, which garment is devoid ofrubber, therefore, it may be washed and dried numerous times withoutshortening the life of the garment, thus being a truly wash and weargarment.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel foundationgarment or swimming suit which is highly attractive in appearance,having a pattern embodying Zig-Zag lines of large stitching which arenot only attractive but which provide greater stretchability in ahorizontal or transverse direction.

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Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from a study ofthe following description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a front panel, after being knit in accordancewith the principles of the present invention, and before seaming forforming a compressive girdle or the like and illustrating the zigzagarrangement of alternating groups of S and Z courses 4a and 4b resultingfrom their torque twist in opposite directions.

FIG. 2 is a rear panel of the garment, made similarly to that shown inFIG. 1, as it appears before seaming.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of a portion of panel 2. cut-outfrom FIG. 2 and illustrating the needles of a full fashion knittingmachine in schematic form.

FIG. 4 is a perspective, front or plan view of a completed girdle madeup from the panels shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, shown partly cut-away to moreclearly illustrate the novel construction, and illustrating the voidspaces or abnormally large stitches of zig-zag outline extendingvertically and occurring at regular horizontally special intervals toimpart a breathing function as well as greater horizontalstretchability.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional views takenalong lines VV and VI--VI, respectively of 1 16.4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged piece of knit fabric showing how panels 1a and 2aare knit.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a novel shaped cam for controlling the knittingoperation of the machine, and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view showing one side of the garment.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawings,

numeral 1 generally denotes the front panel and lining a portion of agirdle embodying the present invention. It

will be noted that one half of the panel, namely 1b, is knit of stretch,soft, lining material, such as any of those known in the trade asBanlon, Helenca or Superlof and the like used in knitting panties. Panel1 is knit on a conventional full fashioned hosiery knitting machine,such as a 45 gage Reading machine, of well known type, and by the use ofconventional needles indicated schematically by numeral 7 in FIG. 3. Amore detailed description of a suitable type of lining material and themethod of knitting thereof is contained in Garrou et al. Patent2,706,389. The other half of the panel, namely, 111, may be knit to forma stretchable lining portion, by the use of a single end, fed by asingle carrier (or by two ends of S and Z twist yarns fed by twocarriers). If knit by a single end and single carrier, after the onehalf 1b is knit to form a lining portion, the machine is stopped andfeeding of the end of the thread is discontinued, and in place thereof,without disrupting the continuity of knitting, S and Z groups of coursesof twisted yarns are fed by a two carrier system, instead. Morespecifically, I prefer to feed three ends of six ply, synthetic, 15denier, monfilament yarn into one carrier, all of which yarns have a Ztwist, and to feed three additional ends of six ply yarn of the samekind, but of opposite or S twist, into a second carrier. The yarns maybe of nylon, Orlon or other synthetic fibers that may be individuallytwisted and heat set so as to have a tendency to untwist. About 20 to 50turns per inch may be suitable. The yarns may be multi-filament, ifdesired, or of other deniers.

Preferably, three ends of six ply, 15 denier, monofilament nylon yarn ofS twist are brought together into one carrier, thus making an 18 ply Stwist, that is, 18 plies torque twisted in onedirection. 'These threeseparate or unplied ends of yarn, shown as 13a, 13b and 13c in FIG. 7,are fed to the needles of the knitting machine through one carrier, andthree separate or unplied ends of six 3 ply, 15 denier nylon yarntwisted in the opposite direction, for making an 18 ply Z twist, are fedto the needles by the other carrier. For best results, I knit 8 coursesof 18 ply Z twist yarns. This is accomplished by moving each carrieracross the needle bed, back and forth, four times by use of cam 15 asshown in FIG. 8. This will proxide a herringbone or zig-zag pattern,such as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 7, because of the tendency of the 8courses of S yarn to untwist in one direction and the tendency ofalternating 8 courses of Z yarn to untwist in an opposite direction.This gives the fabric stretchability in a longitudinal direction,resulting from straightening out of the zig-zag pattern, as well asstretchability in a transverse direction. In some situations, only fourcourses, or perhaps only two courses, may be twisted in one direction,alternating with a like number of courses twisted in the oppositedirection, particularly where less stretchability is desired.

I have made the discovery that outstanding advantages may be obtained byremoving every 8th needle divider and the needle on each side thereof,that is, two needles, as shown at 7a in FIG. 3, in the full fashionknitting machines before knitting the lining half or outer half of thefront and rear panels. This provides an abnormally large opening or loopin the stitch at intervals of eight stitches of each course as shown at14 in FIG. 7, so that the abnormally large stitches 14 form apronounced, open zigzag or herringbone pattern throughout the length ofthe knitted fabric. Numerous advantages are obtained thereby. First ofall, such large'stitches provide practically no strain on the needles,therefore practically eliminate needle breakage which commonly occurswhen all the dividers and needles are in; secondly, they provide openspaces whereby the garment can breathe, that is, permit entrytherethrough of outside air or enhance evaporation from the body of thewearer and thus minimize perspiration and attendant discomfort; thirdly,substantially greater horizontal stretch is obtained which isparticularly suitable for girdles and the like, and lastly, they providea very attractive pattern to the garment, as shown in FIG. 4, making itlook much more finished and dressy than a garment in which all stitchesare of uniform size.

While I prefer to remove every 8th divider and the needls on each sidethereof so as to provide open spaces or large loops or stitches at eightstitch intervals on each course, it will be apparent that otherintervals may be used instead, such as 6, 7, 9 or 10 and perhaps evenmore or less, depending upon the horizontal spacing desired of thevertical zig-zag lines of open stitching.

, It will be noted that except for substituting the feeding of threeends of six ply yarns into each carrier of the two carrier system in theknitting of the main garment portion 1a and 2a for the yarn fed by asingle carirer for knitting the lining portion 1b and 2b, that thecourses of portion 1a and 1b are continuous, therefore are, in effect, asingle piece of fabric. This is also true of portions 2a and 2b. Thiscontinuity of knit is highly important in that it practically eliminatesany tendency for the lining portions 1b and 2b to develop runners as aconsequence of cutting off and removal from the knitting machine or fromsubsequent handling.

In the course of knitting portions in and lb, as well as portions 2a and2b, appropriate narrowings and 6 are effected, in a well known manner,to reduce the width of or fashion the garment in appropriate places soas to make it conform to the body of the wearer and provide a fullfashioned knit.

The rear panel 2a is knit substantially in'the same manner as the frontpanel, that is to say, the lining portion of the garment 2b is firstknit by a single carrier, and then without interruption of thecontinuity of knit, the main or outer portion of the garment 2a is knitafter substitution of a two carrier system, wherein three ends of sixply yarn are brought together into each carrier, the yarns of therespective carriers being of opposite twist. Again I prefer to removeevery eighth divider and the needle on each side of such divider (asshown at 7a in FIG. 3) in the knitting of the lining portion 2b as wellas the main fabric portion 2a. Suitable narrowing 5 and 6 are providedso that the garment will fit the contour of the body of the wearer.

After the front panel 1 and the rear panel 2 are knitted, they aresuperimposed so that their outer edges coincide and then their outeredges are seamed together to form two outer, longitudinally extendingseams. The resulting garment is then turned inside out only half way sothat only the lining portions 1b and 2b of the front and rear panels arecontained on the inside of the resulting garment and only the mainportions 1a and 2a formed by the respective 18 ply, S and Z yarns fed bya two carrier system, will be on the outside of the resulting garment.Thus the above mentioned longitudinal seams, denoted as 9a and 9b inFIG. 5 will confront each other and be concealed from view, either asviewed from the inside or the outside of the garment thereby not marringthe finished appearance of the garment. And equally important, therewill be no seams in the liner which cona manner so that the seams willbe contained within the inner folds of the double layered crotchportion, as shown more clearly in FIG. 6, and thus will not contact andirritate the skin or body of the wearer. This will provide extremecomfort in wear when the garment is made into the form of a girdle. Inmaking other garments, such as swimming suits, the crotch portion may beeither smaller or completely eliminated in which case the seams willstill not be exposed when viewed from the outside or inside of thegarment.

, FIG. 9 shows a side view of the garmentthe opposite side being thesame-that is, an opening 22 is provided on each side of the garment toprovide greater lateral stretch as well as ventilation. Waistband 1S andleg bands 19 are provided on the top and bottom of garment 17 havingzig-zag outlines 23 of large stitching and decorative patches 24 andlines 25, if desired. On each side of the garment the body panels areseparated and the edges thereof are provided with seams 2i] and Z1defining an opening 22.

The girdle described above may be provided with a stretch of up to 50%,in some cases, and in other cases, the stretch may be even greater, suchas about 70% horizontal stretch. The garment will have substantiallyvertical stretch.

The garment fabric may be used in making girdles, swimming suits, jockstraps, surgical stockings or other stretch fabrics requiring highretractability or compressive force.

Instead of providing abnormally large openings or loops in the stitch atintervals of eight stitches of each course, the openings may bepartially filled with thread by the expedient of closing the beard andhaving the needles in instead of out when knitting such openings.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efficient stretchablefabric and method for making the same which is especially suitable forthe making of foundation garments, such as girdles or other garmentsthat require stretch and a high degree of retractability, such as swimsuits, panty girdles, jock straps, surgical stockings etc., whichgarments are completely devoid of rubber and have relatively long lifeand an amazingly high degree of retractability and compressive strengthto keep the body in and maintain a predetermined contour as well asproviding a breathing function to the garment to minimize perspirationand discomfort in wear; which garment may be washed numerous timeswithout affecting the stretchability or retractability; also whichgarment provides a very attractive and finished appearance, even afternumerous washings, and which is a truly wash-and-wear garment whichretains its shape and appearance irrespective of the number of timesworn or washed; furthermore I have provided a girdle construction whicheliminates exposed seams, whether viewed from the inside or outside ofthe garment, thus eliminating unfinished appearance of such seams aswell as skin irritation otherwise produced thereby.

While I have illustrated and described a single embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustrationonly, and that various changes and modifications may be made within thecontemplation of my invention and within the scope of the followingclaim.

I claim:

A stretchable foundation garment having a front, stretchable, outerportion continuously knit with a front lining portion, and having astretchable rear portion continuously knit with a rear lining portion,said front and rear portions of the outer and lining portions beingjoined by side seams, each of said front and rear outer portionscomprising a plurality of groups of courses of yarn torque twisted inone direction alternating with a like number of groups of courses torquetwisted in an opposite direction so as to form a herringbone patternthat provides stretchability to the fabric, and extended sinker loopslocated at evenly spaced intervals of each course, so as to provide aplurality of zig-zag, longitudinal lines of extended sinker loops.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 648,581 5/00Benger 66-202 682,904 9/01 Blaetz 66-180 822,663 6/06 Gilbert 66-180847,243 3/07 Curry 66-180 1,569,140 1/26 Querns 66-201 1,832,709 11/31Hunter 2-224 2,102,730 12/37 Meyers 66-173 2,319,768 5/43 Beers 66-822,621,336 12/52 Wendroif 2-227 2,755,616 7/56 Weller 66-178 2,759,1928/56 Levi 2-227 2,792,698 5/57 Hampp 66-177 2,809,510 10/57 West 66-1772,841,971 7/58 Bird et al. 66-178 2,888,814 6/59 Thierfelder 66-822,898,754 8/59 Harms 66-177 2,966,785 1/61 Goflf et a1. 66-176 3,043,1237/62 Goodman 66-176 RUSSELL C. MADER, Primary Examiner.

